Teaching Addition

For web links, there are lots collected on the Copacabana Get Smart site, and Woodlands Kent Junior School. Games listed below are selected from these and other lists.

Teaching Friends of Ten

These are some of the most useful addition/subtraction facts and can be taught using ten frames, Numicon, games etc. Once I find some good resources I will link to them here.

• Math Lines is great fun to practise these facts and moves slowly enough for junior primary. This game appears on a number of sites, in case one is blocked or doesn't work: Math Lines on coolmath-games.com, Math Lines at mathplayground.com
• Number Twins - match up "friends of ten" on a board - quite engaging and takes a long time to clear the whole board.
• Guided Maths blog entry on using ten frames
• Victoria has a good page on playing "Make Ten" with ten frames
• The "Ten Frame" activity on the NCTM Illuminations site talks to you and gives good feedback.
• Ten Frame Math has a good "Getting Started with ten frames" video on YouTube

Here are some web games to help your lower primary class practice their addition.

• Sum Sense - drag single digit number cards on to an addition problem so it makes sense, play against the timer
• Number Twins - match up "friends of ten" on a board - quite engaging and takes a long time to clear the whole board.
• KS1 Bitesize (BBC) addition and subtraction combined with great graphics. 3 levels of difficulty
• Woodlands Kent Maths Games listing
• Alien Addition - like Space Invaders or Maths Invaders - shoot the addition question that matches the number your spaceship is showing. Range of answers is settable at the start of the game
• Funky Mummy missing addend to 20 - sums to 20, click the missing addend to make the mummy dance.
• GhostBlasters at oswego.org - two player game (a bit spooky) where each player shoots the ghosts if the sum adds up to the target.
• CDM Grand Prix Addition Race up to 20, one or two players
• Space Jumps at ictgames.com - Player must bridge through ten to get safely back to their rocket. Forces a particular number strategy.
• "5 and a bit" ogre hit game - add numbers to twenty to hit the ogre. Amuses children.
• Callum's Number Pyramid at Ambleside Primary - add three numbers in two stages to gain "pyramid points"
• Fun4theBrain.com - several simple addition games here including Sketch's World - simple addition with a platform challenge at the end of each level
• Some of these are a little bit harder - more for advanced students in this range - but there are lots of addition games at http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/additionmain.htm. This includes:
  • An online memory game based on doubling, with a 4x5 grid of cards - maximum appears to be 10+10.

Middle Primary Addition

This section includes links for games and activities that will entertain or challenge grade 3 and 4 students (typically 8-10 years of age):

• Callum's Number Pyramid at Ambleside Primary - add three numbers in two stages to gain "pyramid points" - the hard level ends up adding two three digit numbers together.
• Powerlines Puzzle - although the numbers are single digit, each level is a challenging addition puzzle, making all the lines add up to the same total
• Mayan Math - pretty simple graphics but goes up to two digit addition
• Speed Grid Challenge - these can be adjusted to set the number of problems and the time limit - quite challenging identifying two addends to make the nominated total. The third level is rather difficult!
  • Speed Grid Addition Challenge 1
  • Speed Grid Addition Challenge 2
  • Speed Grid Addition Challenge 3
• Fun Brain Math Basketball challenges students to add two three digit numbers several times.

Here are some suggested activities for learning/practicing basic addition in Year 1:

• Friends of Ten: Using counters with ten frames, or a stick of 10 Unifix cubes, work at tables to fill in a Friends of Ten worksheet (this may be done in pairs or small groups depending on your class)
• Addition challenge - you can use the "Around the World" structure for this - one student is the champion and must answer an addition question or be replaced by a challenger.
• Clear the Board (or Clear the Big Board) - a CMIT game throwing two or more dice and removing counters from a board that are on squares that match the total
• Nine Piles - a simple card game to practice Friends of Ten - make nine piles of number cards and each player must in turn try to pick up a pair that makes ten. Aces can be ones, and you might like Jokers to be zeroes.
• Magic Squares - the basic 3x3 magic square can be solved by competent year 1 students, although the amount of logic and trial and error involved may make it more suitable for higher grades.
• Mathwire.com has a page containing a few addition and subtraction games to print and use in the classroom

Back to Maths page or see subtraction web sites